Continued Dialog Among Syrian Parties Urged

Contact Group to Help End Syria Crisis

Political Desk

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called on all Syrian groups on Monday to follow through Iran’s move to initiate dialog to help resolve the crisis in the Arab country.
“We only play the role of taking the initiative to start and facilitate talks between Syrian groups, but we will not get involved in the internal dialog between Syrian groups; and groups within Syria should themselves pursue the move initiated by Iran,” Salehi said on the sidelines of the second day of the Syria National Dialog meeting held in Tehran.
Referring to Sunday’s decision by the participants in the Syria meeting to establish a committee to follow through national dialog in Syria, Salehi said the committee is made up of various Syrian groups; and its members, who are distinguished and popular, have been identified and their names will be announced later on Monday.
The Iranian foreign minister said the committee would begin its work in earnest on Monday.
According to Salehi, representatives from nearly 40 active Syrian political parties, including 130 figures from inside Syria and 40 Syrian and non-Syrian figures from other countries, took part in the Sunday meeting.
He said that members of the Syrian opposition were also among the participants.

Peaceful Resolution
On Sunday, Salehi reiterated Tehran’s stance in support of a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis with the participation of all parties involved.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stressed, and today we once again emphasize, that we seek a peaceful Syria-Syria resolution to Syria’s issue without any foreign interference,” Salehi told reporters on the sidelines of Syria National Dialog meeting in Tehran.
Salehi added that the Syrian government is obliged to respond to the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.
“We stress respect for Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the legitimate demands of the Syrian nation; and these are the principles that must be taken into account in any discourse on Syria.” The top diplomat said the participants reiterated the need for ‘democracy and peace’ in Syria and called for an end to ‘violence’ in the Arab country.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Thousands of people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Contact Group
Meanwhile, a senior Syrian official said Monday that the meeting will help members of ‘contact group’ adopt closer stands about the issues related to Syria.
Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil described Tehran’s initiative to hold such a conference as effective.
He said the Tehran meeting will help the four members of the contact group- Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia- reach a favorable outcome during subsequent meetings on Syria.
It is expected that more Syrian groups will join ‘National Dialog’ which is a good start for peacefully solving the Syrian crisis, said Jamil.
He then described the Tehran meeting as a positive move to ensure success of national dialog between all groups involved in the Syrian conflicts.The second day of meeting on Syrian National Dialog was held behind the closed doors Monday morning.
According to Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, the Tehran meeting on Syria was supposed to end yesterday but it continued for the second day due to enthusiastic welcome accorded by the participants.
During the first day of the meeting, some 37 Syrian officials and members of the opposition groups stressed the need to continue negotiations and oppose foreign meddling in the Syrian internal affairs.
They also urged an end to the ongoing violence in Syria as well as respect for independence and territorial integrity of that country.
Future events will indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran was only determined to settle the Syrian crisis and it expected nothing from holding such a meeting in Tehran, the foreign minister said.
Over 200 Syrian politicians and representatives from political parties in the country’s well as President Bashar Al-Assad’s envoys attended the Tehran meeting for two days to discuss ways to end the ongoing crisis in the country.

Iran War Will Cost World $2t in 90 Days

An all-out US war with Iran, including an invasion by American troops, would cost the global economy close to $2 trillion in the first three months and could go as high as $3 trillion, according to a Washington think-tank.
A full-scale ground operation to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program is unlikely but the scenario is just one of a handful that a group of nine experts, assembled by the Federation of American Scientists, examined to explore how the global economy would be impacted by US action against Iran, CNN reported.
“There had been talks about oil spikes, about what would happen with the Iranian nuclear program, damage to Iran itself but there had been no, at least in the open sources, large-scale looks at what was going to happen globally,” said Charles Blair who co-authored the report.
Note that all costs are median estimates for the first three months of any action. Costs projected longer than that involved too many variables, according to the group, and would be inaccurate to report.
“The study’s findings suggest that there are potential costs to any number of US-led actions and, in general, the more severe the action, the greater the possible costs,” said Mark Jansson, the Federation of American Scientists’ special projects director. “That being said, even among experts, there is tremendous uncertainty about what might happen at the higher end of the escalation ladder,” added Jansson, a co-author of the report.
Paul Sullivan, a professor of economics at Georgetown University, warned that military strike on Iran would dramatically drive up the oil prices.
“If there is an attack on Iran, with the expected counterattacks the price of oil could quite easily go to 250 dollars or higher. This could push the US right back into a recession,” he said.
“The main effects to the US if there is escalation is through the price of oil and increased military and other national security costs,” warned Sullivan.
The US and Israeli officials have intensified their anti-Iran war rhetoric in recent months to put more pressure on the country over its nuclear energy program.
Iran has promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country.

MPs Slam Israeli War on Gaza

Iranian lawmakers strongly denounced Israeli regime’s recent onslaught against the besieged civilian Palestinians in Gaza Strip, which have left scores of people dead in six days.
In a statement on Sunday, 215 lawmakers said the ongoing Israeli aggression is aimed at ‘breaking up the Islamic resistance in Gaza and forcing Hamas as well as Islamic Jihad to surrender’.
“The hollow and savage Zionist regime [of Israel] has once again committed an act of atrocity with the all-out support of the United States and killed tens of innocent people, particularly women and children, in its numerous and extensive attacks against the oppressed and defenseless people of Gaza,” the statement read, ISNA reported.
Nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 others wounded since the beginning of the Israeli airstrikes on November 14.
The legislators added that the Israelis attacked Gaza in order to break the Islamic resistance in Gaza ‘after 20 months of harassment operations and political and economic blockade against Syria’.
“The crushing response of the fighters of Gaza and the barrage of missiles against the Zionist regime deep inside occupied lands proved the Zionist regime’s calculations were wrong.”
Declaring their all-out support for the people of Gaza, the Iranian lawmakers said that the innocent people of Palestine would certainly prevail and Israel would suffer defeat.
Meanwhile, a senior cleric with the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) blamed the Arab leaders for giving Israel the green light to launch its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.
“The Zionist regime’s renewed attack on Gaza, which unveils the evil nature of this regime...is aimed at deflecting the public opinion from their [Israel and the West’s] failure in Syria and is the consequence of the Arab leaders’ green light,” Abdollah Haji Sadeqi, who represents the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the IRGC, said.
“Without a green light shown by the heads of colonialist governments, Israel could not have committed such a crime,” the cleric added. Haji Sadeqi also heaped scorn on the Arab governments for their silence over the ongoing crimes in Gaza, saying: “The indifference of the Arab countries [toward the situation in Gaza] is tantamount to indifference to Islam and the fate of their own nations.”
He said that the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is also aimed at diverting attention from the failure of Tel Aviv and Washington in their attempts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi slammed the international community’s indifference to the Israeli regime’s aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The minister said Arab countries and particularly the Arab League and Muslim countries should focus all their attention on the main enemy and take practical measures to help the innocent people of Gaza.

Reason for Support
Iran’s Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi said Iranians’ support to Palestine stems from their religious beliefs and is not a political tactic.
Roknabadi said it is an honor and a religious obligation for Iranians to back Palestinians as much as they can.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran regards the Palestinian issue as a fundamental issue deeply rooted in their Islamic and humanitarian beliefs and not as a political tactic,” he added.
The ambassador said international organizations have closed their eyes to the Zionist regime’s crimes in the occupied lands and such silence on these acts of brutality is indeed a kind of support for the perpetrators of the crimes. Roknabadi said the Zionists initiated the aggression but the fate of this unjust battle will be determined by the resistance groups in Palestine.

Israel’s Trial
Iran’s Ambassador to Switzerland Ali-Reza Salari said that the Israeli regime should be put on trial for its latest crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
He said Israel’s atrocities in Gaza are clear examples of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
All children who have been killed in Israeli strikes were targeted consciously and not by mistake, the envoy said, adding, that is the way the Zionist leaders decided to force Palestinians to recognize Israel’s illegitimate entity.
Salari strongly criticized international bodies for falling short to condemn Israel and slammed certain Muslim states for acting against Palestinians. “Now that the international human rights bodies have kept silent over brutality of the Zionist regime and certain Islamic states are cooperating with Israel, this is only the world freedom-seekers who should rise up against Zionist regime’s crimes,” the diplomat stressed.

Resistance to Respond
Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stressed that the Palestinian resistance movement will not stand idle against Israel’s crimes and expansionist acts.
In a statement, Rafsanjani strongly condemned recent atrocities perpetrated by the Zionist regime of Israel against defenseless civilians in Gaza Strip.
“The Muslim people and combatants of Gaza Strip who are living in the front line of the resistance against the Zionist regime would not remain passively watching their expansionism,” Rafsanjani said in the statement. “The current atrocities being perpetrated in the occupied lands against the oppressed people, women and children in particular, were a pre-planned project made by the so-called advocates of human rights who act relying on the support of big powers, particularly the US.”
He stressed that people of the North Africa and the Middle East who have been liberated from the yoke of the arrogant powers would not tolerate the silence of Muslim leaders on the Zionists’ crimes against humanity in Gaza.
“The time is over when world Muslims and freedom-seekers passively watched a small group of oppressors slaughtering the oppressed majority or forcing them to flee their homes,” Rafsanjani said.

Tehran, Ankara Must Unite In Support of Palestine

Vice President for international affairs Ali Saeedlou said that Tehran and Ankara should join hands to support the oppressed people of Palestine.
In a meeting with Turkey’s Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz on Sunday, Saeedlou pointed to the ongoing massacre of the defenseless people of Gaza by the Zionist regime of Israel, saying that the Islamic Ummah must be united in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine, Press TV reported.
Nearly 95 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded since the recent Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip began on Wednesday, November 14. Many Palestinian women and children are among the fatalities.
Israeli aircraft also bombed Hamas’ government buildings in the Palestinian territory on Sunday and Monday. The Tel Aviv regime also authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Saeedlou, who is attending the Fourth Iran-Turkey Provincial Border Governors and Economic Officials Conference in the Turkish city of Agri, also emphasized the need for expanding economic cooperation between Iran and Turkey.
He said that Iran is ready to increase trade with Turkey to $30 billion and believes it will benefit both countries.
Yilmaz, for his part, said Iran and Turkey have a long history of relations, adding that Ankara is willing to further expand ties with Iran especially in the economic areas.
He said that Turkey welcomes more trade and mutual investments with Iran and the Turkish government is willing to improve the flow of goods between the two countries through customs and border gateways.
Addressing a group of Iranian and Turkish economic, political and cultural elites in Ibrahim Chechen University in Agri, Yilmaz said on Monday that Ankara strongly believes in Tehran’s authority in all arenas.
Yilmaz stressed that Ankara welcomes fostering ties with Tehran. He described Iran and Turkey as two powerful regional countries, adding the two sides enjoy vast potentials for fostering cooperation.
Yilmaz also hoped that the value of two countries transactions would hit $30 billion in near future.
Iran and Turkey have sharply increased their trade over the past years. In 2000, bilateral trade stood at around one billion dollars, but in 2010, it exceeded $10 billion. The figure hit $15 billion last year.

Leader: Enemies Seeking to Break Resistance in Mideast

From Page 1
He also urged all Muslims to be vigilant to prevent discord between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
The Leader said that the hostile approach to create divisions among Shiite and Sunni Muslims is not something new and has roots in the past, adding that the enemies have intensified their campaign to divide the Muslim Ummah for their own agenda.
Prior to Leader’s remarks, head of Hajj Organization Ahmad Mousavi and Hajj Chief Seyyed Ali Qazi Asgar briefed Ayatollah Khamenei on this year’s Hajj procedures.
Some 75,000 Iranians flew to Saudi Arabia this year to perform Major Hajj along with nearly three million other Muslims from around the world.

Iran Hikes Oil Exports Despite Sanctions

From Page 1
The International Energy Agency (IEA), adviser to industrialized nations on energy policy, said the rebound in Iranian output was adding to a bearish picture of growing oil supply while demand remained depressed due to a weak global economy.
The IEA also added that a new round of sanctions against Iran will not necessarily further reduce its oil deliveries to markets.
Oil market experts and Iranian officials have warned that sanctions against Iran’s oil sector and Tehran’s retaliatory cut in crude exports would hike oil prices in the world market, which will, in turn, have devastating consequences for western economies.
“Lack of Iran’s oil in global markets can affect energy prices across the world and prepare the ground for the creation of a broad crisis in the West’s industrial economies,” Qassemi said last Saturday.
The minister said Tehran may revise its policy about oil supplies to international markets if the hegemonic system proceeds with its efforts to exert more pressure on Iran.
He added that adverse repercussions of such a move would have impact on the people in industrial countries, and noted that arrogant countries should be held accountable for the consequences of an increase in energy price.
After the UN Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9, 2010, the United States and the European Union imposed further unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, mostly targeting the country’s energy and banking sectors.
Tehran has always dismissed West’s pressures and stressed that sanctions and embargos merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path of progress.

Praise for Supporting Resistance

Egypt’s armed forces advisor and strategic expert Abdel Monem Katu, speaking to Fars News Agency in Cairo on Monday, thanked Iran for its supportive stance on Palestine.